NASA news: This colourful Christmas ‘ornament’ is the blast wave of a monstrous supernova

In this particular case, NASA’s Hubble telescope photographed the “pristine shell or bubble” of gas created by a supernova’s shockwave.

When the supernova erupted about 400 years ago, NASA believes it could have been bright enough for astronomers on Earth to see.

The bubble measures approximately 23 light-years or 135,208,380,000,000 miles across.

The red ring is also expanding at a rate of about 11 million miles per hour.

NASA said: “Astronomers have concluded that the explosion was one of an especially energetic and bright variety supernovae.